This brings our live coverage of the announcement of changes to Covid rules in Wales to an end.

This afternoon Mark Drakeford set out a plan for most Covid restrictions to be eased by the end of January.

Here are some of the key points:

• Covid restrictions - brought in on 26 December - will be eased "gradually" in a four-stage plan over the next two weeks
• By 28 January, Wales will be back to alert level zero, the greatest level of freedoms seen here during the pandemic
• On Saturday, rules restricting outdoor activities will be slashed, allowing up to 500 people to meet outside to do things like exercise
• Work from home laws will also be scrapped by the end of the month
• Mr Drakeford said cases rates had fallen rapidly allowing the rules to be relaxed, but was accused by opposition parties of a U-turn
• However, some hospitality experts said the damage had already been done, and said the rule relaxation was too late

You can continue to follow reaction to the changes to the rules on our main BBC Wales News page, and on TV and Radio throughout the day.

Thank you for joining us.

Image source, Getty Images

All the changes you need to know to Covid rules in Wales from 15 January.

Wales' case rate has fallen again to 1,274.2 cases per 100,000 people – a 45% drop in a week, according to figures.

The daily average number of cases is now 5,739, compared to 10,518 the week before.

Cases among under 25s are now falling in all local authority areas.

Image source, bbc

Analysis: 'Cautious tone remains'published at 13:55 Greenwich Mean Time 14 January 2022

13:55 GMT 14 January 2022

Felicity Evans
BBC Wales political editor

Mark Drakeford has rejected any suggestions of a U-turn in his approach to these restrictions - he insists the scientific advice he received suggested four weeks of tougher restrictions and he says today's announcement is in line with that time period.

He also points out that the Covid numbers have dropped rapidly in the past week.

The report from the Welsh government's Technical Advisory Cell before Christmas did talk about four weeks of restrictions, and numbers have plummeted, but it's also the case that we've seen an abrupt change in approach from Welsh ministers over the past couple of days.

On Tuesday in the Senedd, in response to Welsh Tory demands for a plan out of alert level two, the first minister quoted modelling saying that "the peak of the Omicron coronavirus wave has yet to be reached in Wales", he talked about the number of people suffering from Omicron "going up not coming down" and he raised only a heavily caveated possibility of beginning to lift restrictions at the end of next week.

At this time, the stats were showing a drop in cases, though Mr Drakeford said the change in the rules over testing meant it was difficult to know whether these were "genuine falls" or simply a result of fewer people getting PCR tests.

By Thursday, the health minister was striking a much more optimistic note talking about "very positive signs" that Wales was "possibly turning the corner" on this wave and restrictions will now begin to be lifted this weekend.

Today, the cautious tone remains, as you'd expect, but the dogmatism of last Friday's review - where those calling for an easing of restrictions were described as "fundamentally wrong" - has been abandoned as has the pessimism of Tuesday's position.

Pubs have lost an average of £16,000 each due to tighter Covid rules in Wales, and many will not recover, an industry body warns.

From 26 December, nightclubs were closed, with the rule of six reintroduced to pubs, bars and restaurants, with social distancing in place and table service only.

There had been fears people would cross the border to England to celebrate New Year's Eve to avoid limits on socialising and go clubbing.

Under Welsh government plans, rules will be scrapped on 28 January, with hospitality allowed to operate normally again.

But chief executive of the Welsh Beer and Pub Association, Emma McLarkin, said the damage had been done.

"The indication that we are going back to zero is fantastic, but a lot of damage has been done in that period of closure.

"Every day we trade matters, so I just wish it was happening a bit faster."

Image source, Emma McLarkin

From tomorrow, outdoor restrictions will be eased in Wales.

Parkrun and mass swimming events were cancelled after Covid rules – limiting numbers to 50 - were brought in on 26 December.

But these rules will be scrapped on Saturday, with up to 500 people allowed to take part in outdoor activities.

From 21 January all limits on outdoor activities will be scrapped.

The first minister had been under mounting pressure to ease outdoor rules, which had been slated by opposition parties and event organisers as disproportionate.

Image source, ANDY EVANS/ PARKRUN

The Welsh government will look at "whatever evidence the UK government has used" to cut self-isolation periods for people in England.

Over the border, people who test positive for Covid-19 now only have to self-isolate for five full days - down from seven.

However, in Wales, the period remains seven days after being reduced from 10 days.

Speaking at the press briefing today, Mr Drakeford said: "We will study whatever evidence is now available and if we think it is safe, if our chief medical officer and scientific adviser say to us that we can now move down the days in a way that doesn't cause risk to others, of course that's what we will do.

"But we are yet to see that evidence or to get that advice."

Image source, Getty Images

The Welsh government isn’t moving “too fast” with its plan to ease restrictions, Mr Drakeford says.

Hs said that “as ever in Wales” ministers were acting in “that careful, step-by-step way which will allow us to revisit those decisions”.

The first minister also said the government would watch “very carefully” what happens in schools over the coming weeks, and the education minister had asked that schools implement “the maximum level of protection available within the local decision-making framework they have”.

The government “will do everything we can to sustain face-to-face learning for as long as we can,” he said.

Mark Drakeford has been accused of performing a U-turn over plans to ease restrictions.

Earlier this week, Mr Drakeford said Wales was "in the teeth of the Omicron storm".

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, has criticised the first minister as the changes were announced.

“It is a U-turn because he was telling us that they were in the eye of the storm and there was another 10 days before he could move and then 48 hours later he is moving," he said.

Earlier today Mr Drakeford denied the easing of rules was a U-turn.

Urgent support is needed for pubs, cafes, bars and restaurants, Plaid Cymru says.

The party's health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said it was "regretful" hospitality had been on the front line of "sectors that have been impacted hard".

"We need to see even more support given to the hospitality sector now to help them," he said.

"What we want now is to move quickly towards that point."

Under Welsh government plans, restrictions on hospitality - including the rule of six - will be scrapped by the end of January.

"Two weeks away, things come back to level zero, things could be done quicker, still, I'd support that," he said.

No staff parties were held on Welsh government premises during lockdowns, Mr Drakeford says.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains at the centre of a storm over allegations of numerous parties at Downing Street during Covid restrictions.

Downing Street has now apologised to Buckingham Palace for two staff parties in No 10 the night before Prince Philip's funeral.

Responding to reporters' questions on Friday, Mr Drakeford said he was "not aware of any parties of that sort" on Welsh government grounds.

“The building I’m in now, the centre of the Welsh government – there have hardly been enough people to have a party, even if such a plan existed, because we have had a very strict working from home rule, with very few people here," he said.

He would have taken “a very dim view” of any parties, he added, saying: “People who make the rules have a special obligation to make sure they themselves are following the rules and that’s how we’ve tried to conduct ourselves in the Welsh government.”

Wales’ winter Covid restrictions were both “necessary and effective”, Mr Drakeford says.

Limits to hospitality, businesses and individuals were brought in on 26 December, with rules much harsher than across the border in England.

However, today Mr Drakeford defended the rules saying the measures were needed due to Omicron levels.

Mr Drakeford rejected suggestions models of case rates prepared for ministers by Swansea University were too pessimistic.

He said: “The model has been remarkably accurate in understanding the shape of the Omicron impact - we have, we think, seen the peak a bit earlier than the model predicted, but the changes we are making are exactly two weeks on from last Friday, just as the model itself would have suggested.

“What the actual figures show is that the measures we took in Wales were both necessary and effective."

The Welsh Conservatives have accussed ministers of "overreacting" to Omicron by introducing restrictions.

Speaking as the first minister announced Covid rules would be eased by the end of January, Andrew RT Davies said the restrictions had caused pain for people in Wales.

“Despite the detailed scientific evidence from South Africa, Labour ministers clearly overreacted to Omicron, and that has caused significant pain and anguish for families and businesses in Wales," the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd said.

“Sadly, Labour have left Wales as an outlier in the United Kingdom with the strictest restrictions when it comes to sport, outdoor activity and hospitality.

“The British booster campaign has been a resounding success and as such Labour should now move swiftly and remove restrictions as we get on the road to recovery and as a nation learn to live with Covid.”

Bosses of an English football club, based in Wales, have said changes to rules allowing fans back in grounds are "frustrating".

Chester FC was due to face Brackley Town on Saturday at its Deva Stadium, but postponed the game.

It came after the club had been accused of breaching Welsh Covid rules, by hosting two home games with large crowds in December.

While the club plays in the English league, the pitch is just inside the Welsh border, where current rules mean fans are effectively banned from matches.

As rule changes, allowing fans back in stadiums later this month, were announced by the first minister the club said the whole situation could have been avoided.

Jim Green, vice-chairman of Chester FC, said: "We’re naturally pleased that our fans will be able to attend our next home game, but our position has been that we’ve always believed that this should be the case.

"So I guess that our reaction to this is tempered with the frustration at the position the club and the supporters have been left in this week, and it’s a situation that we maintain could have been avoided.

"We’re still determined to find a long-term solution that will allow us as a club to move forward with certainty."

Image source, Getty Images

The rule of 50 had led to some outdoor events being cancelled - including volunteer-led Parkruns.